The other round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup series brought the Scott Tucker-owned Level 5 Motorsports squad to Belgium for the Spa-Francorchamps 2011 race. The renowned course is known for being flat however offering drivers with challenging curves to encounter all the while racing at swifter speeds relative to different tracks.

Tucker and his awesome group, coming off wins at the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Long Beach Street Circuit, were stoked to be at the venue and see exactly what the weekend had to bring. The Spa competition was dense and serious; the Le Mans series and the Intercontinental Le Mans series appeal to best rated talent from across the globe to the legendary Spa track. “This is one of the greatest tracks in the world,” Tucker stated. “It’s one of the faster tracks we run at. It’s curvy but flat … you’re flat to the floor.”

In the runs at the ILMS season opener at the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Lola Honda had trouble to make top speed at the straightaways. For the Spa, all Honda vehicles were awarded a 1.2 mm larger air restrictor as compensation. After early tests, said Level 5 driver Christophe Bouchut, the restrictor granted little boosts in speed, but it was not clear pre-race how much of a difference the adjustment would make.

As it ended up, the restrictor didn’t deliver the speed increase the Level 5 team had predicted, a unsatisfactory result that set the group in a slight drawback, even though it wasn’t through yet. In qualifying rounds, driven by Bouchut, the Honda finished 10th-not the end result you might expect due to the fast track, the driver talent and the restrictor correction.

After he had run the course, Tucker told people in the media his feeling of the course: “It’s as advertised: long and fast,” he explained. “In the prototype, the turns are so fast, and there are a lot of G’s, so it will be very physically challenging over 6 hours.”

But 6 hours didn’t really come as Tucker plus the team expected. After a little contact with a car speculated to be No. 41, the Level 5 vehicle arrived to pit for gasoline along with damage in the right rear end corner on the tail section. The segment was replaced, and after fueling up, the vehicle was back in line.

Next, just a couple of hours into the race, Bouchut all of the sudden spun into the barrels along the side of the track. Team manager David Stone believed that something in the back suspension had failed, but the team have to wait for official inspection for the answer.

Despite the fact that Level 5 Motorsports suffered a frustrating conclusion to its second ILMC appearance, driver enthusiasm and talent weren’t in question. Only days away from another FC race in California, the team changed its attention to its next opportunity.

Scott Tucker, a five-time national driving champion Scott Tucker .